November 7th, 2007
Tim Kring Apologizes for Season 2 Mistakes
This is interesting. Apparently Heroes creator Tim Kring is apologizing for how he has developed Season 2 over the last seven episodes. In a phone interview with Entertainment Weekly from the picket line (yes, Tim Kring is picketing his own show via the writers strike), Kring talks candidly about everything from poorly introducing the new characters to allowing the first handful of episodes to fester uninterestingly instead of introducing the Shanti Virus armageddon plotline sooner — like in the first episode of Season 2. It’s actually pretty stunning that Kring is saying all this, but declining ratings and poor reception from new and old fans alike may have been the reason.
From the EW article:
THE PACE IS TOO SLOW
”We assumed the audience wanted season 1 — a buildup of intrigue about these characters and the discovery of their powers. We taught [them] to expect a certain kind of storytelling. They wanted adrenaline. We made a mistake.”THE WORLD-SAVING STAKES SHOULD HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED SOONER
The premonition of nuclear apocalypse created a larger context that unified every story line last season. Kring now sees that Volume 2 (the first 11 episodes of season 2) would have been better served if Peter’s vision of viral Armageddon had appeared in the season premiere rather than episode 7. ”We took too long to get to the big-picture story,” he says.THE ROOKIES DIDN’T GREET THEMSELVES PROPERLY
New Heroes Monica (Dana Davis), Maya (Dania Ramirez), and Alejandro (Shalim Ortiz) ‘’shouldn’t have been introduced in separate story lines that felt unattached to the show. The way we introduced Elle (Kristen Bell) — by weaving her in via Peter’s story line — is a more logical way to bring new characters into the show.” (That said, Kring says a few newbies won’t make it beyond this second volume, which wraps Dec. 3.)HIRO WAS IN JAPAN WAY TOO LONG
Hiro’s (Masi Oka) time-bending adventure in 17th-century Japan — where he mentored samurai hero Takezo Kensei (David Anders) — finally came to an end on Nov. 5. But Kring says it ‘’should have [lasted] three episodes. We didn’t give the audience enough story to justify the time we allotted it.”YOUNG LOVE STINKS
Kring regrets sticking Claire (Hayden Panettiere) with a super-dud boyfriend and forcing Hiro to moon over a cutesy princess. ”I’ve seen more convincing romances on TV,” he admits. ”In retrospect, I don’t think romance is a natural fit for us.”
I personally don’t agree with the Hiro-in-Japan excuse. I really enjoyed that storyline. I do agree with everything else. The new characters were so random in nature that it didn’t make sense. Likewise with the Shanti Virus doom scenario. It got sprung on us out of nowhere. And yes, as most of you know, I was never a big fan of Claire-West, aka Heroes 90210.
Despite all that, the fact that Tim Kring is accepting these points as “mistakes” gives me good reason to believe Heroes will get better. It couldn’t get any worst, could it?
